News

In the beginning of 2017, Lyudmyla Zaporozhtseva moved from Kiev to Moscow. After a successful collaboration with the Enjoy Understanding marketing research agency, she accepted their invitation to work as a full-time expert in semiotics. It was a new position, created for Lyudmyla. Three years on, she leads a semiotic team in this agency. Lyudmyla told UT Blog about how the agency works, what her daily work looks like, and how she feels about her recent PhD defense at the University of Tartu.

On 26 February, the University of Tartu (UT) holds an Open Doors Day during which final-year secondary school students and other future applicants can take part in various activities. The University of Tartu library hosts a study fair on the UT curricula at which experienced specialists give admission and career advice. Together with representatives of student organisations, participants can find out how to be more than a student and what else they can do for personal development during their studies at the university.

Astronomer Laurits Leedjärv earned the Golden Prize 2019 from journal Akadeemia for his article "Üksildane maa" (Lonely Earth). The journal hands out prizes every year in four categories: universalia, socialia, humaniora, and naturalia. Leedjärv was awarded the naturalia prize.

The University of Tartu Delta Centre, one of the most modern centre for digital technology, analytics and economic ideas in the Nordic countries, will open its doors on Wednesday, 29 January at 12:00. The Delta Centre comprises an academic and a research building and an entrepreneurship building and will bring together more than 3000 students, lecturers, researchers and development employees from companies.

While Estonian children have previously shown a rather risky online behaviour, a new study classifies them as fairly smart internet users among European peers.

Today, the agreement for Estonia to join the Nordic e-Infrastructure Collaboration NeIC was signed at the Delta Centre in Tartu. This agreement gives Estonian research infrastructures the possibility to maintain and enhance their competitiveness and do more international cooperation. The agreement was signed by Arne Flåøyen, Director for NordForsk, an institution that facilitates and provides funding for cooperation on research across the Nordic region, and Andres Koppel, the chairman of the board of the Estonian Research Council.

On 13 December the Mayor of Tallinn Mihhail Kõlvart and the delegation of Tallinn City Government visited the University of Tartu to discuss ways to enhance cooperation between the university and the City of Tallinn.

On 2 September, 14,092 new students start their studies at the University of Tartu in its 101st academic year as Estonia’s national university. The opening ceremony of the academic year is held in the afternoon at Kassitoome in a more relaxed atmosphere than usual. Photo exhibition “Faces of the University III” is opened on the wall of Von Bock House with a humorous play by Mart Kivastik.

Professor Svante Pääbo, who was elected as the foreign member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences this year, is a world-class evolutionary and population geneticist.

Studies show that students’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is declining with age. This has an adverse effect on their physical, social, emotional and academic capabilities. Since young people spend a large portion of their time at school, the school as a whole, as well as the physical education teachers, have an important role on the students’ HRQoL.

Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas announced the names of the experts who have been selected as members* of the mission boards to work on five major European research and innovation missions. The missions will be part of Horizon Europe, the next EU research and innovation programme (2021-2027). Head of Estonian Biobank, Andres Metspalu was selected as a member of the Mission board for Cancer.

Bolt, the leading European on-demand transportation platform, is partnering with the University of Tartu for an applied research project on the development of self-driving technology for a Level 4 autonomous car. The project will contribute to Bolt’s vision of making moving around cities easier, quicker and more reliable. The research sets a goal for integrating autonomous vehicles (AVs) on Bolt’s transportation platform by 2026. In the short-term, Bolt will collaborate with the University of Tartu to run AV pilots in suitable urban areas.

The arts and humanities programmes at the University of Tartu have ranked between 251 and 300 in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings table of subjects. The overall ranking of the University of Tartu is between 301 and 350.

7 November saw the official inauguration of the EIT Knowledge and Innovation Community EIT Manufacturing in Paris. EIT Manufacturing is one of eight knowledge and innovation communities in the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) network. The University of Tartu will join the community to use the network to increase cooperation with international and Estonian companies and obtain foreign funding for the development of new technological solutions.

Physicists at the University of Tartu have been working on a graphene-based sensor for the last five years. This sensor, to be integrated into mobile phones, will actively monitor toxic substances in the ambient air and recommend to the person carrying it to choose a safer route. The prototype has now been completed and will be introduced to mobile phone manufacturers at a major event in Barcelona.

The European Space Agency (ESA) invites everyone to share their views about what we should research in space, because planning for the space programme of 2035–2050 has started.

Economic expert and entrepreneur Ott Pärna took up the position of Head of Marketing of University of Tartu Delta Centre on 1 October. Erik Puura, UT Vice-Rector for Development, says that the university offered the position of Marketing Director to Pärna to build up and develop the entrepreneurial image of the university.

The winners of Copernicus OceanHack are IceWise: the idea of creating an app to make moving on ice safe. The leader of the team was Junior Research Fellow of Tartu Observatory Kristi Uudeberg.

13th student business ideas competition Kaleidoskoop Finals was held at the business festival Startup Day 2019. Team Münt who is developing eco-friendly toothpaste tablets was selected to be the winner. Their mission is to make the planet earth a cleaner place.

In the course of this winter the students from San Diego State University (USA) studied for the 12th time at the University of Tartu. Of the 15 students who participated the majority were from the international security and conflict resolution program. Upon arrival in Tartu they were greeted by frosty weather and snow-covered streets, which was a first-time experience for many of them.